Safety appliance for jib-cranes.



A. PATTON.

SAFETY APPLIANGB POR JIB GRANBS.

AEPLIUATIOH FILED NOV. 2, 1910.

Patented May 16 s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES SAFETY .AIPLIANGB FOR JIB GRANES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2, 1910.

. Patented May 16, 1911.

a sums-SHEET a.

. w I* I g A I I g, v 2

WITN ES`SE$ l-: :L l u INVENTOR 4 W m i MW/fam,

A. PATTON.

SAFETY APPLIANGE POE JIB URANES. Y APPLIGATION FILED Nov. 2, 1910. ggq Y imma my la wn.

OCOOO'OOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO INVNTOR v/ f: f

ALBERT vPATTON,v or McKEEsroRn' rENNsYrLvimrA'.v

SAFETY .ArrLrANcE Eon JIBCEA'NES.

y Specification of Letters atent. 4; lliltte-Il'd` lIay 1911..

Application filed November 2, 1910. i Serial 1\Io."590, 299.`

Fo all whom it 'may concern:

Beit known. that I, ALBERT PATTON, of

McKeesport; in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invent'ed a new.

and useful Safety Appliance for J ilo-Cranes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings;v

My `invention relates to safety appliances for j ib cranes and, whilel not limited tosuch use, more particularly relates to safety appliances-for jib ladle cranes, such. as. are used in Bessemer steel works in handling and transporting molten metal.v between the,y Bessemer converters .andthe ingot moldsl intowhich the molten .metal is poured from' the ladles while the ladles are supported upon the crane jib.

One object of my invention is to provide' means for Vsupporting the crane' jib in the raisedposition'to which it is liftedA during the pouring operation by which the ladles- 'are emptied and to provide means for mechanically securing the crane jib inV its raised Vposition as. the jib is swung to .move

the ladle intqits pouring position, and for locking 'the jib securing means in such posif tion until after the ladle is swung out of its pouring position.

The invention consists in providing improved means von the vertically movable crane jib by which the jib is. secured. in'its raised position independently of the jib lifting mechanism and the securing means are locked in this position while the crane is being swung through part of tlre are or circle in which it is rotated in use.

The invention furtherI consists in providing novel means for mechanically releasingv the locking mechanism by which the crane j ib is locked in its'. raised position when, after the jib has been locked in its raisedvposition it is againswung or rotated a pre-determined part 0f its rotative movement to move the ladle away from its operative pouring position.

. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 isa side elevation of `a low-jib ladle crane having asafety appliance mounted thereon,

-constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention. Fig.'2 is a plan of the crane shown in Fig. 1.v Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the crane mast and fib showing theconstruction and arrangement of the safety jib support forming part of this' invention. Fig. 4 is aside `elevation L similar to that shown Fig. showing'the safety appliancel in: its disengaged position.

Fig. 5 is a plan of a portion-of the apparatus l showing the means by whichthe safetyfap'- pliance is mechanically.' moved intowa'ndf locked in` its operative position-when"4 the crane jib is rotated while in its raised position, .Fig 'G isa side elevationshowing the lcroxss head connecting the piston of the'jib lifting cylinder with the liftingarms'ofthe crane jib.

Referring to thel drawings, 2 'designates the crane Amast which is rotatably mountedl` in the bottom bearing-3 and topsteadiment or bearing 4., Mounted on the -lower pol.'-

tion of the crane mast 2 is a. spnrpinion 5,' i

`the teeth of which mesh with those of the -raclz 6, thevends of which are connected to 'thel istons 7 and 8 of single actinofA hydraul' crane is rotated.' V Mounted on the mast2 of the crane, so as vto. be vertlcally movable thereon, is -a horizontally ext-ending "jib '11.

having' a ladle 12. removably'-secured thereon.

4Fixedto the mast 2wof 'the crane isa hydraulic cylinderlS-havinga vertically eX- tending piston 14, the upper end of which is connected by the cross head 21 and ba-rs or .links 15, 16, ad'17, to the jib11 of t-hecranev so as to support the jib 'from the upper. endA Vof the piston 14,' The ladle 12is vmounted upon wheeled carri-ages 18, which travel the. girde'rs forming the ji-b 11, the carriages 18 being connected .by the piston rod19 rwith a duble acting` hydraulic cylinder 20 .to move the ladle 12 horizontally `on the top plates of the 'cranejib in placing the ladle in proper positionfoi` pouring and forre- 'ceiving its molten cont-ents. 4Pivoted to the cross head 21 o n the top, ofthe upper end of the pistonl'et, throlelegh which the crane jib is raised and lower y .is la latch or lever 22. This latch is provided with an extension 23 -upon'the trackformed by the top'- plate of i forming a counterweifrht which tends to no'r-V tion, asiis shown in full lines in Fig. 4. The

mally hold. the latch 1n its inoperativeposi` lug on .the upper end-of the latch 22 engages.

in a recess 2l' on the back or rear surface of the crane mast 2 when the jibl is in its raised position so as to independently secure and hold the crane jib in this position, being scribed 'hereinafter'. Secured, as shown, to the bottom chord`25 of the roof of the building in which the crane is erected, is a bracket 'moved' into vthis position in a manner de- 26 having pivoted thereto a horizontally extending lock 27. The lock 27, (as is best' shown in Figs. 3 and 4) lis arranged to extend horizontally when in its operative posi- 5 tion and is provided with a flexible connectioni28wrwhich leads upwardly over a suitable arrangement of pulleys or sheave wheels to apoint near the floor of the buildin@ within reach of the operatives through which the w lock 27 can be lifted into its inoperative position when desired or found necessary. The lug 27 and its bracket 26 are so located on the bottom chord 25 of the roof truss that the lug 27 is normally in its operativeposition when the ladle 12 on the crane jib 11 approaches approximately to the pouring position, in which the ib remains stationary for some time while the ladle is being emptied of its molten contents. Suitable connections are made to the several hydraulic cylinders forming the crane lifting and turning mechanismsand the means employed for moving 4the ladle horizontally on the'crane jib, and such construction being old and well known need not be further described.

In the operation of jib cranes provided with my improved safety appliance,^the jib 'and the ladle mounted thereupon are swung into position for the ladle to receive molten 80 materials from the Bessemer converter. The crane is then swung or rotated through the "medium of the hydraulic cylinders 9 and 10, the rack 6, and the spur gear 5 upon the lower end of the crane mast 2, into the position shown in Fig. l, above an ingot mold which is' usually mounted upon a truck or car, as shown, this being the pouring position of the ladle. Before, or as the la'dle is being rotated, the jib is lifted on the mast 2 and-when the ladle approaches the relative position with the lock 27 .shown in Fig. 5, the outer vertically extending edge of the latch 22 engages with the concave surface ot' the lock 27 and ismechanically moved into 45 position so that the lug 27l on the latch engages withthe recess 1n the top portion of the rear side of the` crane mast. In this way the jib of the cranefisse'cured in its raised position and is held locked in this position by means of the latch 22 and lock 27 Should for any reason the crane be swung into the position shown in Fig. 1 without being first4 raised into the lifted position shown, when the jib is rthen lift-ed the top edge of the latch 22 which will be held swung outwardly `in its inoperative position, (that shown in Fig. 4f) will engage with the lock 27- and will be forced 'inwardly into en agement:

with the recess 24 so as to hold, the dleyand jib in its raised pouring position upon the crane mast. In case the Huid pressure supply used in operating thlfhydraulic cylinder 13 becomes lessened" or entirely shut off, the crane jib will not be dropped or lowered ow ing to the safety appliance, and damage to Vthe apparatus in this way will b'e prevented and lspilling of'molten metal causing pos sibleV loss of life will be prevented and avoided.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the crane jib can be raised for a short distance while in its 'pouring position, and this vertical move ment which is provided forthe purpose of pricking the ladle and starting the pouring operation, can be increased or lessened to anyextent desired by varying the length of the safety latch. As the jib 1s being lowered so as to bring the latch from the position shown in Fig. 4 into that shown in Fig. 3, the lock 27 causesthe latch to be moved on its pivot so as to enga-ge with the recess in the crane mast and -hold the jib in its raised position so long as vthe crane jib is not swung about the vertical axis of the crane'mast 2, away from the curing posiis again rotated and after a certain amount of rotative movement the latch 22 becomes .disengaged from contact with the lock 27.

'inclined engaging surfaces ofy the lug on the latch and the recess-24 in the crane mast, the jib is maintained in its raised position until the operator lifts the jib slightly on the mast, and releases the latch from the mast. When the jib is so lifted, the counter: weight 23 on -the latch `22 automatically swings the latch into the posit-ion shown in Fig. 4 and as the latch is now out of engage'-Y ment with the lock 27 the jib is free to be moved downwardlyby the hydraulic cylinheld while the ladle is receiving a fresh su ply of molten materials. The above escribed operations are then repeated as required.

The advantages of my inventionwill be safety appliance is mechanically actuated to secure and hold the ladle and crane jib in their raised position independently of the positionv for pouring. The safety appliance is automatically disengaged after the com-I their raised 'position does not depend upon the operator, but is' performed automatically and in this way liability of damage by reason of failure to operate the safety appliance is overcome and prevented.

f'Modications in the constructionand arout departing from my invention, as de fined in the appended claims.

1. In a rotary jib crane having a vertically movable ljib, a safetysetppiiance comprising a latch pivotally mounted on' the On account of the outwardly and upwardly z der 13 into its low position in which it is' lifting mechanism while the ladle is in the pletion of the, pouring operation, and in` moving the lae away from its pouring position, the securing of the jib and ladle in rangement of the parts may be made withtion. After the ladle is emptied, the crane apparent to those skilled in the art. The i lllii crane jib to move normally into its disengaged position, a crane mast having means operatively engaged by the latch to secure the crane jib in lifted position on the crane mast and means secured to the structure supporting the top end of the crane mast and arranged to contact with and move said latch into locking engagement with the latch the latch vment with .the latch securing means on' the crane mast when the crane is being movedthrough part of'ts rotative travel.

3. In a rotary jib crane having a .vertically movable jib, a safety, appliance comprising a latch pivotally mounted on the crane jib and counter-weighted to ,move

normally into its inoperative positionf, a crane mast having means operatively 4lengaged by thelatch to secure the crane jib alatch pivotally mounted on-the- 1n `lifted position on the -crane mast 'and means secured to the structure supporting the top end ofthe crane mast and arrange to engage 'With andmove said latch into locking-engagement with -the-latch securing means on the crane mast when `the crane 1s being moved through part .otite rotative `tive engagement with the latch.

Atravel,.said latch. xnciving means being arranged to be moved into and out of opera- 4. In. a rotary jib crane having a vertically movable jib, a safety appliance com prisin a latch pivotally mounted onl the crane ]ib and @unter-'weighted to move nor# mally into its inoperative position, a crane Amast' having means operatively en aged by the crane jib g1n lifted' *positionon the crane cured to the structure supporting the top the' latch` to secure mast and means se-l end of the crane mast and arranged to engage with' and move said latch into locking engagement with the latch securing means on the crane vmast when the crane 1s being moved through part of its rotative travel, said latch being arranged to be disengaged from its locking position in all parts of its rotative movement.

. 5.' In a rotary jib crane having a verti# cally movable jib a safety a pliance comprising a pivoted latch hinge to the crane Jib and counter-Weighted to move normally mto its-inoperative havin means adapte to engage the latch to lock t e jb in its raisedA position on the crane mast and means pivotally secured on the supporting struct-ure for the top steadiment of the crane for moving the latchjinto locking engagement with the crane mast, said pivoted means being movable out of operative position.

In 'testimony.whereof, I have hereunto m hand.

ALBERT PATTON. Witnesses: I

v M. M.' ND,

R. L. MCGARTY.

Copies ofvthis patent may be. obtained for live cents'each, by addressing Washington, D. C.

the f ommissioner of Patents,

position, a crane mast 

